


A Vague Disclaimer is Nobody's Friend

by wbh



Series: Making a Life [5]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Meeting the Family, Overprotective Dean, also sort of, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-19
Updated: 2015-09-19
Packaged: 2018-04-21 13:22:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4830641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wbh/pseuds/wbh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel finally takes Anthony to meet Sam and Dean.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Vague Disclaimer is Nobody's Friend

**Author's Note:**

> Comments welcomed and appreciated!

Anthony almost couldn’t believe this was happening. Finally, after two years together, Castiel had decided it was time for Anthony to meet his “complicated friends.” Anthony had spent the drive to Kansas curious, cautiously excited, and, if he was honest with himself, a little smug that his patience had once again paid off in the area of getting Cas to open up about his former life.

Now, however, he was mostly just feeling uncomfortable.

Anthony, Cas, and the Winchester brothers were sitting on vinyl booth seats in a diner in Lawrence, Kansas. (“Neutral ground,” Cas had informed him solemnly when Anthony asked about the meeting place, which he should have taken as a better warning.) Cas and Anthony were sitting across from the infamous “complicated friends,” Sam and Dean, who hadn’t spoken since Cas had made awkward introductions as they sat down. Dean was practically glaring at Anthony and Sam kept shifting in his seat and fiddling with his fork. Cas’s eyes were darting nervously around at all three of them, as if hoping desperately for someone to say something. Anthony would have helped him out, but he was feeling exceptionally wrong-footed and out of his depth. He also wasn’t sure what the Winchester’s problem with him was, and wasn’t too eager to find out.

The waitress who brought waters for the table seemed to sense the mood and said she’d “Give them some time to look over the menu,” before scurrying away. Apparently that was enough to push Sam to rescue the rest of them.

“So, Anthony,” Sam said, finally putting his fork down. “Cas says you’re a nurse?”

“Oh, yes,” said Anthony, grateful for the icebreaker, delayed as it was, “At the Washington University teaching hospital in St. Louis.”

Sam nodded thoughtfully, and silence descended on the table again. Anthony decided it was his turn to attempt conversation, and tried, “Cas says you two…stop apocalypses?”

Dean finally stopped glaring at Anthony in order to look sharply at Castiel. “He knows?” Dean asked harshly.

It was now Cas’s turn to glare at Dean. “Why shouldn’t he?” Cas said, a harshness in his voice Anthony didn’t think he’d ever heard before. This wasn’t going well at all.

“Look,” Sam interrupted, clearly trying to defuse the situation, “Cas, we just want to know you’re safe. I mean, did you even…” Sam glanced uncomfortably at Anthony. “Are you _sure_ he’s – ”

"Anthony is not a monster, Sam.” Cas interrupted, face still set in that hard and angry (and weirdly attractive) way Anthony was completely unfamiliar with. “I _can_ look after myself,” he continued. “Hannah knows I have no desire to return home. She runs Heaven now, so I doubt any angel will bother me. And I know how to set up appropriate wards. Anthony is protected.”

Anthony had been silently agreeing with Cas and supporting him by running a soothing hand along his thigh under the table (after all, his apocalypse-stopping angel boyfriend _could_ look after himself, thank you very much) but the last part of Cas’s little speech gave him pause.

“Cas, honey,” he started, tentative. “What do you mean, ‘appropriate wards’?”

Cas turned toward Anthony, face softening considerably, but with his gaze settled somewhere near Anthony’s chin as he answered, “I warded you against demonic possession. It’s quite harmless.”

Anthony’s mouth gaped open a little and he stared around at Sam and Dean to see if they heard what he just did. To his annoyance, they both seemed completely unfazed. “You…you…” Anthony looked back at Cas, “Honey, you need to _ask_ …I mean, what did you even _do_ …” Cas was starting to look both confused and distraught, which, in spite of Anthony’s own shock and slight upset, wasn’t really his goal. Anthony stopped and took a deep breath, trying to remind himself that angelic boyfriends come with their own complications. “You know what, it’s fine,” he said, trying to convince himself as much as Cas, “We’ll talk about this when we get home.” Anthony forced a slight smile and squeezed Cas’s shoulder to try to take any sting out of his words. The last thing he wanted to do was have a fight in front of Cas’s already judgmental friends, and he sensed Cas’s heart had probably been in the right place here, even if they _really_ needed to have another conversation about personal boundaries.

With silence threatening to overwhelm the table again, Anthony searched around for a change of topic. “I don’t know if Cas told you, but he has quite the garden going at our place.”

Sam perked up at that. “Oh yeah? Growing your own food, huh?” Cas nodded, and Sam continued, smiling, “That’s great! Still interested in getting a beehive someday?”

Anthony had no idea why, but for some reason that question made Dean stare intently at his napkin and start ripping it into little strips, while Sam’s eyes widened before he ducked his head down, abashed.

Deciding that feigning obliviousness was the best option here, Anthony tried to pretend he hadn’t noticed the Winchester’s strange reaction. “Oh yes,” he said, plowing on with the conversation, “Cas is always talking about getting a hive.” This was true. Anthony was the one with extreme misgivings about raising stinging insects in the backyard; Cas had not given up trying to convince him how fantastic it would be, with tactics ranging from meticulously detailed graphs about honey production, to offers of sexual favors. “I’m sure he’ll talk me into it someday.” Anthony turned to smile at Cas, and grabbed his hand on the table, giving it a squeeze.

Cas squeezed back and smiled at Anthony gratefully, as Sam and Dean both visibly relaxed on the other side of the table. Luckily the waitress returned at that moment to take their order, effectively rescuing everyone.

They made more stilted small talk over lunch. Anthony sensed Sam and Dean weren’t used to letting anyone get to know them, which was a huge hindrance to normal conversation. He knew they’d stopped the apocalypse together, but not for the first time Anthony wondered how on earth his sweet, loving Castiel had best friends so entirely unlike himself. They were closed off, nervous. Paranoid, he might say, if he didn’t know enough detail to know they probably had every reason to be. Any personal information he learned about either of them was offered up by Cas or slipped out accidentally. Still, lunch hadn’t been a total disaster, he mused as he made his way back to the table from the bathroom. It was likely Cas wouldn’t come back home from _this_ meeting with his friends looking sad, which was its own kind of triumph. Anthony must have jinxed himself with that line of thought though, as he turned a corner to find his way blocked by a very determined looking Dean Winchester.

Dean had said even less over lunch than Sam had. That, combined with the hard set of his jaw and the way he had waylaid Anthony in a part of the restaurant out of sight of their table (and Cas) put him instantly on guard.

Dean and Anthony were about the same height, but Dean drew himself up, trying in vain to glare down at Anthony. “Listen,” he started and Anthony tried not to swallow nervously, “you seem like a good guy, but Cas is special. If you hurt him, Sam and I know where you live.”

Anthony blinked. This wasn’t quite what he’d expected, although he supposed he really shouldn’t be surprised. Perhaps he hadn’t given Dean enough credit. “Are you giving me the shovel speech?” Anthony asked slowly.

“If that’s anything like the older brother speech, then yeah,” said Dean, relaxing down from his peacocking stance a bit, seemingly pleased they’d arrived at an understanding. "I guess I don't really qualify, but all the other angels are dicks so you're getting it from me."

Glossing over that revelation about Dean's regard for angels, Anthony moved back to the matter of more importance. “‘If you hurt him I’ll beat you to death with a shovel’?” he quoted, starting to smile as Dean nodded grimly at a line from _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_. “I won’t. Not on purpose, anyway. I love him.” Best to be blunt in these situations.

Dean blinked rapidly and looked away at that. Anthony suddenly understood there was a lot going on here that he probably didn’t want to know the full details of. It was clear Cas and Dean had been through a lot together, perhaps more than he'd realized.

“Yeah, that’s not always enough,” Dean said quietly.

Anthony wasn’t sure what to say to that, so he was grateful when Dean continued more loudly, “I know he says he can look after himself, and he can, but you better get him to teach you all the protection stuff you’ll need. Don’t want the two of you to be sitting ducks. Not when he’s finally happy.”

Anthony smiled more fully at that, “Oh don’t worry, I have a lot I want to learn more about when we get home.”

Dean nodded, and then turned abruptly to walk back to their table, apparently placated for the moment.

As Anthony slid back into the booth next to Cas, he wrapped his arm around his angel’s shoulders and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. This lunch really hadn’t been half-bad after all. Perhaps it would take a few more meetings with Sam and Dean before they’d be willing to actually let him get to know them. And perhaps Anthony and Cas still needed to have a conversation about _asking_ before "warding" people, especially people you live with. But these were all things he was willing to work through. For now, he was just glad to know Cas had people in his life who cared about him – enough to worry if Anthony was good enough for Cas, and take him aside to give him the shovel speech. Even if those people were strange recluses who couldn’t hold a normal conversation and spent their days picking fights with demons and monsters.

**Author's Note:**

> The title of this fic is taken from the same scene in "Buffy" Anthony quotes to Dean.
> 
> Keep in mind that Anthony's perceptions of Sam and Dean (and Cas) are dependent only on what he's seen and knows about them.


End file.
